Participants:
Series Code: PJU
Program Code: PJU190006A
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00:03 Were the people in the Bible any different to us today?
00:10 Or ordinary people like you and me? 00:22 What can we find out 00:23 from their lives that will help us? 00:29 Find out with Pastor Geoff Youlden 00:31 and Rosemary Malkiewycz 00:32 here on People Just Like Us. 00:38 There are leaders and then there are leaders. 00:42 Some are of good influence 00:43 and laid to blessing and prosperity 00:46 while others are not. 00:48 And take people down the road to immorality, bondage, 00:52 materialism, and all manner of evil. 00:56 Today, Pastor Geoff is going to talk about a leader 00:59 who is different to all others. 01:01 And who is directed by God 01:03 to bring His people out of hardship and domination. 01:07 Welcome, Pastor Geoff. 01:08 Thank you very much, Rosemary. 01:10 Today, I wanna talk about 01:12 one of the most amazing women in the Bible. 01:16 Not a well-known woman, by the way. 01:18 As far as women are concerned, 01:20 there are other women in Bible history 01:23 that would be much more well-known. 01:26 But I'm talking about Deborah. 01:29 Deborah, yes. 01:30 She is probably the only woman in the entire Bible 01:35 who was an absolute leader of God's people 01:38 and God appointed. 01:41 He certainly did 01:42 'cause she was a prophet or prophetess. 01:44 So God must have laid her. 01:47 Yes, well, as we study this story today, 01:50 I think we're gonna see some wonderful things. 01:53 You know, someone has said 01:55 there are only three types of people in the world. 01:58 Those who watch what is happening, 02:01 those who make things happen, 02:03 and those who scratch their heads and ask, 02:06 "Hey! What is happening?" 02:09 The ability to make things happen 02:11 is really a gift of leadership. 02:13 It was Arnold Toynbee, 02:15 who once observed that the rise and fall of societies 02:19 has a one-to-one correlation 02:21 with the quality of its leadership, 02:24 which I think, Rosemary, is hardly encouraging 02:27 for our western society today, is it? 02:30 No, because there aren't a lot of good leaders. 02:32 That's why we're in the mess that we're in. 02:34 And it seems that 02:36 our leadership as such is in decline everywhere, 02:41 including even in the church. 02:44 We seem to be drifting. 02:46 And when the church has a leader with vision 02:48 and is able to articulate those goals 02:50 and lead the church, it will always grow. 02:54 And the same is true in our homes. 02:56 Too many homes are simply drifting 02:59 and no one is giving a decisive lead. 03:01 I mean, parents abdicate 03:03 their responsibility of leadership. 03:05 Disaster always takes over in our homes. 03:08 There are so many homes today where the father has abdicated 03:13 his leadership role 03:14 and he's the one who is supposed to do that, 03:16 father is not even there. 03:18 Yes. 03:19 Or he just doesn't do the leading 03:21 and the mother has to do it. 03:23 Yes. 03:24 And so their homes become dysfunctional 03:26 and that leads to a dysfunctional society. 03:28 Well, that wasn't the way God made, intended it to be. 03:30 No, it isn't. 03:31 Adam was to be the head of the home. 03:34 And when that is the case today, 03:37 the man is in charge then 03:40 I think the home is better. 03:42 Now that's doesn't mean to say 03:43 that the women doesn't play 03:45 a very, very, very important role. 03:47 But her role is not to be... 03:49 A father. 03:50 The father, that's right. 03:51 That's a good way of putting it, Rosemary. 03:53 I like it. 03:54 Well, today, we're looking at Deborah, 03:56 God's exceptional leader. 03:58 And she is the only woman in biblical history 04:00 who has a major God-given leadership role. 04:04 And so that immediately marks her out as a very, 04:07 very exceptional woman, a gifted individual, 04:10 and a leader of distinction. 04:12 Now we catch up with her in Judges 4. 04:16 And if you have your Bible as you're listening, 04:20 then I'd like to encourage you to turn it up. 04:23 If you haven't, 04:24 then we are going to put the words on the screen. 04:27 This is where it says in 04:29 Judges 4:1. 04:34 "When Ehud was dead, the children of Israel 04:36 again did evil in the sight of the Lord." 04:39 You know, Rosemary, as you read the Book of Judges, 04:43 that is a recurring thing that goes over 04:46 and over and over again. 04:48 Yes. 04:49 "The children of Israel did evil 04:51 in the sight of the Lord." 04:52 They would be good for a while 04:54 and then they would turn to evil 04:55 because we are like sheep 04:56 and we follow whoever is around at the time. 04:59 I mean, Othniel dies 05:00 and then they all start doing badly. 05:02 When Joshua was alive, 05:04 they were all following God 05:05 and as soon as Joshua and the judges 05:07 that were there with him or the elders, 05:09 the people turned away 05:11 and went into idolatry, 05:12 and so God had to keep sending a leader back 05:15 to try and bring them back to following Him. 05:17 Well, that's really the story of judges, isn't it? 05:18 Leader after leader. 05:20 But this too goes on to say, 05:22 "So the Lord sold them 05:24 into the hand of Jabin king of Canaan..." 05:27 Now, this is what we read over and over again. 05:29 They did evil in the sight of the Lord. 05:31 So therefore, as a result of the Lord 05:33 allowed them to go into captivity 05:35 or needed to be put under... 05:39 Rulership by another... Rulership by a foreign power... 05:42 Who oppressed them. 05:44 Absolutely. 05:45 "And this is certainly true of Jabin, 05:47 king of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor. 05:50 The commander of his army was Sisera, 05:52 who dwelt in Harosheth Hagoyim. 05:56 And the children of Israel cried out to the Lord, 05:59 for Jabin had nine hundred chariots of iron, 06:03 and for twenty years he had harshly oppressed 06:06 the children of Israel." 06:08 So there it is in this story... 06:10 over and over again. 06:13 And... Twenty years. 06:15 It's a long time. Definitely. 06:18 And you would think that they would learn 06:19 the lesson, wouldn't you? 06:21 Oh, well, they've been through it 06:23 a couple of times before with Othniel and Ehud. 06:26 Well, as you read the biblical history, 06:30 it's just a tragic story. 06:31 It reminds of that statement over here in the Gospel of John 06:36 where Jesus made a statement 06:38 in John Chapter 8:34. 06:44 And I'm sure you know this statement 06:45 very well, Rosemary. 06:47 "Jesus answered them, 'Most assuredly, I say to you, 06:50 whoever commits sin 06:52 is a slave of sin.'" 06:54 Mm-hmm. 06:55 In other words, 06:58 the world says and the devil says, "Look... 07:04 follow me and it's liberating. 07:06 You'll have the time of your life." 07:09 But an actual fact that Jesus said 07:11 sin seems to be all right 07:13 to begin with but it always bites 07:14 like an adder. 07:17 And the children of Israel 07:18 found this over and over again. 07:20 And you know, the devil says 07:21 that this idea of old-fashioned morality, 07:24 it's out of diagonal. 07:25 Yes, you want freedom. Freedom. 07:27 Yeah, that's the cry of today. 07:29 Another thing in the Book of Judges 07:31 is that the people... 07:32 It describes the people. 07:34 It says, "Every person did that 07:36 which was right in their own eye. 07:39 Not what was right as far as God is concerned, 07:42 but in their own eyes." 07:43 And when you do that, 07:44 you're always going to run into trouble 07:46 because the Bible also says that 07:48 the heart is deceitful above all things. 07:51 That's right. 07:52 So the story starts off here 07:54 in Judges in the fourth chapter 07:56 by illustrating that 07:58 if you follow and disobey God, 08:01 follow Baal in this particular case 08:03 and disobey God, 08:04 then judgment will always come. 08:07 And it came pretty heavily on the children of Israel 08:10 here because the Bible says 08:12 they were oppressed for 20 years. 08:16 And by the way, 08:17 this oppression, 08:19 if you have a look at this 13, 08:21 this is Chapter 4 of Judges and verse 13, 08:25 it says, "So Sisera 08:27 gathered together all his chariots, 08:30 nine hundred chariots of iron." 08:34 Now that I guess 08:36 doesn't seem a lot as far as our world is concerned 08:40 when it comes to... 08:42 Weapons? The weapons? 08:43 No, but back in those days, 08:46 they were the only ones who had these chariots of iron. 08:49 Could you imagine 900 chariots 08:51 and horses and riders coming for you? 08:54 When all the people have was swords and so forth. 08:57 And some of them didn't even have that. 08:59 It would be a bit like America 09:01 taking one of the small Pacific islands. 09:04 I mean, 09:06 they just didn't have a show. 09:07 And Israel didn't have a show here 09:10 against these 900 chariots of iron. 09:15 And in 5:8, 09:19 Deborah makes the statement. 09:21 She says, "They chose new gods, 09:25 then there was war in the gates..." 09:27 You know, they chose to follow 09:28 the gates of the gods of Canaan. 09:33 "There was war then in the gates, 09:35 not a shield or spear 09:37 was seen among forty thousand in Israel." 09:40 So you can imagine how helpless they were 09:42 against these 900 iron chariots. 09:45 And... 09:46 They didn't have a shield or spear among 40,000 people. 09:50 Yes. 09:51 I mean, that's warriors. 09:53 That's not just the women and children. 09:54 Well, so they were helpless. 09:57 And really the problem here, as we read the story, 10:00 is not really a military problem. 10:02 It was a spiritual problem 10:03 with the children of Israel 10:05 because 10:08 they didn't need an iron smelter. 10:10 What they needed was trust in God. 10:12 That's right. 10:13 And this is the story of judges. 10:15 When the people trusted in God, God fought them in. 10:18 There are so many illustrations in the Bible 10:20 like the story of Jericho. 10:23 Mm-hmm. 10:24 The children of Israel didn't have to fight 10:27 the people of Jericho, did they? 10:29 No, they didn't. 10:31 They just marched around the city. 10:32 They just did what God said. Yes, marched around. 10:33 And the walls came tumbling down. 10:36 And so it is that when we allow 10:40 the Lord to lead us, 10:41 we can trust Him and the children of Israel 10:43 at this stage had little trust. 10:45 No faith in God whatsoever. 10:48 I think of Hezekiah, 10:52 when he was being attacked 10:53 and he had letter from his enemies, 10:55 he just placed it before God. 10:57 He actually put it on the ground 10:58 in the temple and said, 11:00 "Lord, look at this." 11:02 And God fought for them 11:03 and then when Jehoshaphat 11:05 was being surrounded and threatened, 11:08 he went to God and God told him, 11:10 "Don't worry. I'll take care of you." 11:12 So when he went out to war, 11:13 he actually put the singers in the front 11:14 singing praise hymns to God. 11:17 And God wiped out the enemies 11:19 and Jehoshaphat never had to fight. 11:21 It's a strange war 11:23 when you have the choir out front. 11:24 By putting God first, 11:26 their enemies were defeated by God. 11:27 That's right. Correct. 11:29 Well, this is the lesson 11:30 that so far the children of Israel 11:31 haven't learned in Judges. 11:34 And then God did an amazing thing. 11:35 An incredible thing, actually. 11:38 He didn't choose a man 11:40 like He did later by the name of Samson or Gideon. 11:45 When you read about these men's characters, 11:47 and we may talk about them a little bit later 11:49 in our program. 11:50 He didn't choose a man. 11:52 This time He did something 11:53 right out of left field, 11:55 and He chose a woman. 11:57 And Deborah became the leader in Israel. 12:02 She was the charge. 12:03 She was the one in charge. Yes. 12:05 In fact, if you have a look at 12:06 Chapter 4 of Judges. 12:11 And if we have a look 12:12 at verses 4 onwards here, `it says, 12:16 "Now Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lapidoth, 12:20 was judging Israel at that time." 12:22 So she was a prophetess 12:24 and she was judging Israel, yes. 12:27 "And she would sit under the palm tree of Deborah 12:30 between Ramah and Bethel in the mountains of Ephraim. 12:34 And the children of Israel came up to her for judgment. 12:37 Then she sent and called for Barak, 12:39 the son of Abinoam from Kedesh in Naphtali, 12:43 and said to him, 12:44 'Has not the Lord God of Israel commanded, 12:47 'Go and deploy troops at Mount Tabor, 12:50 take with you ten thousand men 12:51 of the sons of Naphtali and of the sons of Zebulun, 12:55 and against you I will deploy Sisera, 12:58 the commander of Jabin's army, with his chariots, 13:01 that is these 900 iron chariots, 13:04 and his multitude at the River Kishon, 13:06 and I will deliver him into your hand?'" 13:08 There's the promise. 13:10 God says, "So I'm gonna deliver him into your hand." 13:13 And Barak said to her, "If you will go with me, 13:16 then I will go. 13:18 But if you will not go with me, I will not go." 13:22 It's like he didn't really trust 13:24 what Deborah was saying to him. 13:27 I mean God said, 13:28 "You go, and he'll have 13:30 all these chariots and multitude 13:32 and I will deliver him into your hand." 13:34 And Barak says, 13:36 "Well, Deborah, I'm not going if you don't go." 13:37 I mean he was a little bit frightened, wasn't he? 13:41 But God called him... 13:42 He was a bit of scaredy-cat at this stage. 13:43 But God called him to a work. 13:46 Yeah, and verse 9 says, "So she said, 13:48 'I will surely go with you, 13:51 nevertheless there will be no glory for you 13:54 in the journey you are taking, 13:55 for the Lord will sell Sisera into the hand of a woman.' 14:00 Then Deborah arose and went with Barak to Kedesh." 14:04 Now we've got to understand 14:05 how that would be a real put down 14:07 for that man. 14:09 For the Lord is gonna deliver a woman. 14:13 Because... 14:14 And we got to understand the times. 14:16 It's not that God depreciated women 14:18 and we're not, certainly not depreciating women, 14:20 but we got to understand the times. 14:22 The Bible was written in a history, 14:24 in a capsule of time. 14:26 And women back in those days 14:28 were never looked upon as being the leaders. 14:31 Which is amazing that Deborah was. 14:33 Yes, and God selected her. 14:35 But for women to actually be prophesied is the one 14:38 who is going to deliver Israel 14:43 was quite amazing. 14:45 Yes, well, as we read here, 14:48 Rosemary, the first thing that she was a prophetess, 14:52 which means 14:54 that she foretold the future. 14:56 She was a preacher of encouragement 15:00 as a prophet does. 15:01 And she was a very, very good prophetess. 15:05 And she received these revelations from God. 15:08 Actually there were only three people, 15:10 three women in the Old Testament 15:12 who were prophetesses. 15:15 There was Miriam, wasn't, 15:17 Miriam in the time of Moses, 15:19 sister of Moses. 15:21 And then there was Huldah 15:22 in the time of Josiah, wasn't it? 15:25 And then, of course, 15:27 Deborah in the time of judges. 15:30 But there were lots of prophets though. 15:32 Lot of prophets, yes. 15:33 So... Sometimes, they're not even named. 15:35 It just says a prophet of God. 15:36 Yes, and in the New Testament, 15:40 there's only really a very few exceptions. 15:44 There's first of all, Anna. 15:45 Seven daughters were prophets, prophetesses. 15:48 Remember Anna was at the birth of Jesus 15:50 and prophesied about His... 15:53 The baby, Jesus. 15:54 Well, she was in the temple. 15:56 And then, of course, as you said, 15:58 there were the daughters of Philip. 16:00 Once again, exceptions. 16:03 It seems to me that 16:05 when men don't rise to the occasion, 16:07 God has selected women. 16:10 And it is being the exception, but nevertheless, 16:13 it has been the truth, 16:14 down truth through the years. 16:16 It has happened. Yes. 16:17 And it's interesting that in the last days, 16:20 I was just reading Peter's sermon 16:23 on the day of Pentecost 16:24 in the Acts Chapter 2. 16:27 When he talks about in the last days 16:29 there's going to be the gift of prophecy. 16:31 He's going to be part of a church too. 16:35 Let me just read it to you. 16:36 Here in Acts Chapter 2, 16:39 and we'll pick it up in verse 17. 16:42 It says, "It shall come to pass..." 16:44 Of course, Peter here is quoting Joel. 16:47 "And it shall come to pass in the last days, 16:50 says God, 16:52 that I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh 16:55 and your sons and your daughters 16:58 shall prophesy." 17:00 So it's not unusual for a woman to have the gift of prophecy. 17:04 And particularly in the last days, 17:06 here the Bible predicted that 17:08 that gift was going to be given to a woman. 17:14 "Your young men shall see visions, 17:16 your old men shall dream dreams. 17:18 And on My menservants and on My maidservants 17:22 I will pour out My Spirit in those days, 17:25 and they shall prophesy." 17:28 So once again, 17:29 we see very clearly that in the last days, 17:32 this gift is going to be restored again 17:36 and with women... 17:37 That's right. 17:39 Which is very interesting. 17:40 And then back in Judges as we read before, 17:43 she was also a judge, 17:46 which mean that she was the center 17:47 of the political arrangements 17:50 in Israel at the time. 17:52 And the people came to her 17:53 to receive judgment on different matters. 17:55 Yes, yes. 17:57 And so it's wonderful 18:00 that this woman led out in such amazing faith. 18:03 And you can see why God selected her 18:05 because she was a woman of faith 18:07 and confidence and trust in God. 18:09 Well, she had to be because she did go with Barak. 18:12 Yes, yes. 18:14 She didn't say, "Oh, no, no, no." 18:16 She said, "Okay." 18:18 Look, I picked up... 18:20 I don't often read paraphrases 18:22 because a paraphrase 18:23 is not always a 100% accurate translation, 18:27 but I picked up this clear wood. 18:30 And Deborah wrote a song 18:35 and it's recorded in the fifth chapter 18:38 of Judges and it says, 18:40 "That was the day that Deborah, the prophetess, 18:43 and Barak, the son of Abinoam, 18:45 praised the Lord and sang this song: 'Praise the Lord! 18:48 She says. 18:49 When the leaders in Israel took the initiative 18:51 and the Lord blessed them and they gladly volunteered." 18:54 In other words, 18:57 when they took the initiative 18:59 and were strong in the Lord. 19:00 "Listen all you kings! 19:02 Give us your attention all you rulers! 19:03 We will sing to the Lord. 19:05 We will play music to the God of Israel. 19:07 The Lord went before us 19:09 as He did in the mountainous region of Sinai 19:11 when our fathers came up out of Egypt. 19:13 He marched ahead of us 19:15 as He did when we came into the region of Edom. 19:17 This time He shook Mount Tabor. 19:20 He sent mighty rains from heaven. 19:22 Just as the mountains shook before the Lord at Sinai, 19:27 so the earth shook 19:28 at the presence of the God of Israel 19:29 against Sisera." 19:31 You can see what she's doing here. 19:32 She is recounting how when we trust the Lord, 19:35 how the Lord has worked on our behalf. 19:37 And she is going through this wonderful song. 19:41 And she says in verse 8, 19:43 "War had come to the land 19:45 because Israel had gone after other gods. 19:48 Cities came under siege 19:50 and there was fighting in the gates. 19:52 Not a spear or a shield was found 19:54 among forty thousand men of Israel. 19:56 They were forbidden to make weapons of war. 19:59 Our hearts go out to leaders like Barak 20:01 and to the volunteers who followed him. 20:04 Praise the Lord 20:05 for their faith and courage!" 20:07 Isn't that good? 20:08 And you can see why the Lord selected her. 20:11 And verse 11 says here, 20:14 "They tell each other about the victories of the Lord 20:17 and the courage of their men in battle." 20:20 So there's another important 20:22 that we ought to be reciting to one another, 20:25 how the Lord has blessed 20:26 and has worked on our behalf 20:27 because that encourages others. 20:29 That's right. 20:30 When we remember 20:31 things that God has done in the past for us, 20:34 it encourages us to go through the things in the future 20:36 even the things that are happening now. 20:38 And then finally in verse 31, it says, 20:40 "Lord, may all your enemies perish like Sisera. 20:43 But may those who love you shine as the rising sun. 20:47 So there was peace in Israel 20:49 for the next forty years." 20:50 Good. So see what happens. 20:52 When a person obeys and follows God, 20:55 then God blesses them 20:56 and they had peace in Israel for the next 40 years. 21:00 And God wants to bless us with peace. 21:02 He wants to bless us with prosperity 21:05 not necessarily in financial terms 21:07 but in our lives of having a good life, 21:11 having a peaceful life, 21:12 having our children have peace in their lives. 21:16 Yes. 21:18 A lot of it depends 21:19 on whether or not we're going to follow God 21:21 or we're gonna turn against Him. 21:22 Rosemary, I guess that's the really the story of judges. 21:26 And I'd like to encourage all our viewers 21:28 to pick the little Book of Judges up 21:30 and read it through. 21:32 There's so much wonderful material 21:35 of how if we trust in the Lord 21:37 and have faith in Him, 21:38 even when our backs are against the wall 21:41 as often that was the case with Israel, 21:43 God still intervened. That's right. 21:45 And I guess the issue is, 21:48 are we going to learn that trust. 21:50 We need it today. 21:52 Well, it's the most difficult thing 21:53 for us to learn. 21:55 You know faith is easy to talk about 21:59 but it's very, very difficult to practice 22:02 when the issue is really hot. 22:05 Yes, like with Barak. 22:06 He had to learn to trust. 22:07 Yes. 22:09 Then God intervened in a marvelous way. 22:12 Sisera was actually running away from God's people 22:16 and he stumbled into a tent of a non-Israelite 22:19 named Jael 22:21 where he expected to find safety. 22:23 Now, we're not told why she acted the way 22:26 she did as the Bible gives us no reason. 22:30 But it's very ironic 22:31 I think that it wasn't valiant soldier like Barak 22:35 who conquered the great general, Sisera. 22:37 It was a pagan woman 22:39 who killed him while he slept. 22:41 And I can't believe that she did that 22:43 because as a woman 22:45 I couldn't do it. 22:46 I mean, the Bible says that... 22:50 Well, first of all, he asked for water 22:52 and she gave him milk. 22:54 Milk wouldn't quench his thirst as much as water would, 22:57 but milk would help him to sleep better. 22:59 So... 23:01 Probably it's a good observation, Rosemary. 23:02 So I would say she probably gave him the milk 23:05 to get him to sleep 23:06 'cause he would have been exhausted. 23:09 But the milk would have helped him in a deeper sleep 23:11 because she had an ulterior motive. 23:13 Yes. 23:14 But then it says that she came in softly 23:17 with a tent peg and a hammer 23:20 and drove the tent peg 23:23 into his temple 23:24 and it went down into the ground 23:26 and she fastened him to the ground 23:29 with this tent peg through his temple. 23:32 Oh, I just... 23:33 To me I just couldn't even begin to imagine 23:36 doing something like that. 23:38 Even to an enemy, 23:40 I'd be too frightened. 23:41 I mean, what if he had it waken up, 23:43 if he wasn't in a deep enough sleep. 23:46 She would've been killed. 23:48 I guess that she made sure the first hit was considerable. 23:53 She must have. 23:54 It's just beyond me 23:56 that a woman could actually do something like that. 23:58 Yeah. 23:59 I guess also that he would have thought that the milk was... 24:02 I mean that would have been expensive for her to supply 24:04 because that would be from 24:06 one of the animals or sheep or something. 24:08 And he would have thought that that was really been, 24:11 honoring him. 24:12 Yes, indeed. 24:14 Yes, but I think she was trying to make sure he's asleep. 24:18 Well, once again, it's the story of judges 24:21 how that every time 24:24 the people trusted in God, 24:26 God delivered them 24:27 and here in this particular case 24:29 in a most unusual way. 24:31 God used a foreign woman... Correct. 24:34 And as Deborah had said, 24:36 Barak didn't receive the glory 24:39 for the death of Sisera. 24:41 Yes. 24:43 It was this woman who actually was married 24:45 to a relative of Moses. 24:48 Yes. 24:50 When you read these stories, 24:52 because sometimes people have difficulty 24:54 with some of the stories 24:56 like the one we're accounting now. 24:58 But we've got to remember 25:00 that God had His hand in things. 25:04 While God didn't do it, 25:06 God allowed the circumstances to arise 25:09 because that was the culture of the day. 25:11 There was nothing unusual about that 25:13 with the culture of the day. 25:15 And we've got to remember 25:16 that the Bible was written in a certain culture. 25:18 A certain history 25:21 that people acted like that. 25:25 It's not always nice and it's not always good. 25:28 And it's not always God's way, 25:31 but nevertheless God allows 25:33 these things to happen 25:34 so that His people can be delivered. 25:36 And there are so many stories, we mentioned Jericho before. 25:39 I mean, it was never God's intention 25:41 that Israel fights the Canaanites. 25:44 God was going to do all of that. 25:46 Bible never says that they were to go out and fight. 25:49 But when they didn't trust in God, 25:53 then they were put to the sword. 25:55 And in the stories here over and over 25:57 and over and over again 25:59 we read how they were 26:02 beaten into submission 26:04 over that long period of time. 26:06 So what's the message for us, Rosemary? 26:10 That God has His leaders 26:12 and the world has leaders, 26:14 and God's leaders will lead us the right way 26:16 and the worldly ones will not. 26:19 Yes, and the personal message is that I've got to learn 26:21 to trust in God 26:24 when things are difficult. 26:25 All very well, first to sit here 26:27 and talk about trusting in God. 26:28 That's easy. 26:30 But when the difficult time comes, 26:32 that's when it's very, very difficult. 26:34 That's right. 26:35 And in those times, 26:37 during the easy times, 26:38 we have to learn to trust God 26:40 so that we will be able to go through the hard times. 26:42 That's where recounting as they did in this song 26:46 after the deliverance. 26:48 They talked about the things 26:49 that happened before their time 26:51 as well as in their time 26:53 recounting the things 26:54 that God had done for His people 26:56 and how He had delivered them 26:58 so they could remember. 27:00 So that when difficulties come, 27:02 they have something an anchor. 27:05 And we have to do the same in our own lines. 27:08 What I will be like when the big issues come 27:12 is really being determined by what I am now 27:15 in the little things. 27:16 Even Jesus said, 27:17 "He that's faithful in the little things 27:19 or the least things 27:20 will be faithful in the bigger things." 27:22 And so, these little tests 27:24 that come along to us day-by-day 27:27 ought to be illustrations to us 27:30 of where we stand spiritually ourselves. 27:32 That's right. 27:33 We're looking at Deborah today. 27:35 And Deborah trusted God. 27:37 Deborah was a prophet of God. 27:40 Let's decide that we're gonna trust God 27:42 and not be wandering like Barak. 27:45 But to put our trust fully into God now, 27:48 so in the bad times we will still follow Him. 27:50 God bless you. |
Revised 2020-01-08